Business should be stimulated to cooperate with food banks – Shkrabatovskyi

UFBF Chairman Dmytro Shkrabatovskyi explained in an interview with Ukrinform that the initiative would establish two types of date labeling for food products, similar to practices in some European countries: a ‘sell-by’ date and a ‘use-by’ date. Products within this timeframe could be transferred to food banks for distribution to the population.

The draft bill also proposes exempting producers and retailers who donate goods to food banks from paying VAT, as well as prohibiting the disposal of food products if they can be transferred to food banks.

“Producers and retailers should find it beneficial to cooperate with food banks. Some businesses are already familiar with our work, but the same issue always arises: there are no state incentives or benefits to officially donate products with short shelf lives to charity,” Shkrabatovskyi noted.

Currently, the Ukrainian Food Banks Federation network includes five regional food banks in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Odesa regions. According to Shkrabatovskyi, the network will continue to expand.

As previously reported, the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture and the Ukrainian Food Banks Federation signed a memorandum of cooperation, which provides for joint work on a bill to establish a nationwide food bank network in Ukraine.